LeAnn brings 16 years combined experience working in the arts, nonprofit and local government sectors. As both a practicing artist and a development professional, she is a strong advocate for investment in the arts.
LeAnn began her office career as Programming & Box Office Director for Merrimack Hall Performing Arts Center in Huntsville, Alabama. After moving to Orlando in 2010, she worked in Development, Program Management and Curriculum Development for several Central Florida nonprofits including Canine Companions, ArtReach Orlando, Crealde School of Art and Hope Partnership, helping to secure nearly $2 million in grants, sponsorships, in-kind and direct cash contributions during her career.
In her second identity as a ceramic artist, LeAnn uses clay to facilitate conversation on personal and complicated issues including mental health, mother/daughter relationships, isolation and belonging, and systems of oppression. Navigating her own needs for acceptance and belonging, LeAnn carves and illustrates the ceramic surface to explore what it means to be a human, being, slowly peeling away at the self-shame and blame we carry for being ourselves. Passionate to prove we are not alone in our experiences; LeAnn wishes to repair what empire seeks to destroy: Our Unity. She pushes us to re-member in a world that seeks to dis-member.
In 2017, LeAnn founded Making Conversations, a social practice project using ceramics to facilitate dialogue with strangers on complex social issues. She has since led workshops on racial equity for the City of Orlando and presented nationally for a workshop series entitled “Identity, Social Justice, and Antiracism for the White Community,” hosted by Mirna “The Mirnavator” Valerio. LeAnn has been a Ceramics Fellow at the Hambidge Center for Arts & Sciences, a Teaching Artist in Residence at Rabun Gap-Nachoochee School, a Ceramics Artist in Residence at the Dave Drake Studio at The Bascom Center for Visual Arts and has studied at the Penland School of Craft. She currently works out of her home studio and the City of Orlando’s Pottery Studio.
Now, as Development Officer for United Arts, LeAnn is excited to bring her whole self to the table.
LeAnn holds a B.A. in Studio Arts from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, a Master’s Certificate in Social Justice from Harvard University, and has studied Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She lives with her husband Jon and three dogs, two chickens, a horse, several fish, and too many plants to count.
